I was hoping to use an ERR cruise M. I have not opened up the loco, assuming the motor driver board is in the boiler. Is the motor driver circuitry on the SAW mother board or does it use the Lionel modular motor driver board?
Additional tests show that the smoke unit does not work, either.
Interesting to find so many problems with a loco that had not been run. There were no running marks on the wheels or rollers and the original traction tires were unblemished. There were some slight chips on the driver flanges, probably from setting the loco down on the basement floor too roughly. Additionally, there was some slight corrosion on one edge of each driver that I attributed to dust and moisture from sitting on display. My thought is that this loco is 12 - 15 years old.
I thought the price ($271) was good for this loco, but fixing the problems eats into that quickly. The seller bought some locos from a local widow who has a huge collection. He said he got them cheap. I wonder if she only sold the ones that did not run?
From the same fellow, I got an MTH DD-1 and it does not run, either. That may be as simple as a battery, since it is PS-2 and the sounds work. Unfortunately, the ornamental bell on the roof, and one coupler mount got smashed in shipping.